He with Missing Wings

7 / Initiation

Chilly wind shot all around me and the clattery grocery bags occupying my frostbitten hands. The whole neighborhood could probably hear me so late in the evening, but the trip was all but critical. I needed that dark-haired, homicidal half-demon bombshell at home to believe that I had gone to the store the entire time I was away. He would not accept any other excuse. I ruminated on what Kylel had been up to while I was with Haley. The latter half of our relationship was filled with passion, leisure, and euphoria, but tension had gradually made its presence known. Foreplay with Kylel was rough, impulsive, a fraction short from beastly. It had all of the prime attributes for an exhilarating sex life except for tenderness. The castle was without one brick, but I needed that brick or else the entire structure would collapse.

I treaded across the front yard and heard the grass crunch beneath my sneakers, no longer feeling the need to preserve the beauty of my mom's lawn. There were no lights on within the house, not even in my room. Kylel could have fallen asleep after binging so much television. He was still getting used to his physical body and how to regulate it the way humans did. According to Haley's research, Kylel was transitioning from fallen angel to full demon and was gaining power by the second. Only I had the power to stop him. This nightmare could be over with just a snap of my fingers if I wanted it to. All I had to do was let Kylel go. If only it were that easy.

"Hello there!"

I sensed something behind me and turned towards it. Mackenzie Hartsen walked her leashed beagle down the sidewalk in front of my house. She was the same girl whom Kylel had launched out of a window days ago. Amazing enough, she was able to wave her frail, bandaged arm in my direction. In her other hand was a short, pointed knife so small that I almost missed it.

"Good evening sister!"

Her tiny dog took notice of me as well. The creature went rigid in place as it looked up at me with its two soulless black spheres for eyes. Mackenzie jerked the dog's leash, but the beagle did not budge from its spot. It became unclear who was walking who.

"Christina! Get away from her!" hollered a male voice.

Kylel stood in the doorway of my house, gesturing impatiently for me to run inside. I followed him in and Kylel slammed the door shut the moment my butt was a centimeter past the door's trim.

"The hell's the matter with you?"

Kylel peeked between the window blinds. "Nothing! Just The Evil One playing his tricks!"

My heart thumped. "The Evil One?"

"Yes, but do not fear him. Just be cautious of him," he advised, still keeping an unyielding eye on the strange duo outside.

Mackenzie approached our front door and, with a fiendish smile, banged vigorously against it.

"C'mon Chrissy! I just wanna apologize for bumpin' ya the other day! Can't a girl say sorry directly?"

Kylel became unhinged with hostility. He exploded with all of the bass in his chest. "Leave now! Or I will make you leave! Do you hear me?!"

Mackenzie tittered. After some time, the dog finally let up and continued down the sidewalk on all fours. It reeled its head back to bark viciously at its 'owner'. Mackenzie trailed the canine clumsily, foolhardily, and consentingly. Kylel relieved a breath and gripped my hand.

"Damned serpent."

"What did the... dog say to you?" I grilled.

Kylel bit his lip like he was afraid to tell me. "It said that it wants me."

"Wants you? For what?"

He slicked his hair back and walked down the hall. "Let's just say... The Evil One has had his eyes on me for a long time. I'll never give myself over to his will. His pack of fools may fear him but I don't."